Daylight
by Lil Leif
Summary: An unnamed man leaves Sakura. Inspired by the song Daylight by Maroon 5


**Daylight **

I watched her as she slept. I watched as her chest slowly rose and fell with each breath. This was probably the last time I'd see her for a long time. This hit me like one of her chakra-fueled punches and I felt my breath catch in my throat.

There were too many things against us though. I could tell she was really stressed out about our relationship, especially when she had to keep it a secret from everyone. If I really cared for her I wouldn't keep dragging this out like I had for the past year and a half. I had to leave her… and hope she moved on.

I glanced at the clock on her nightstand and saw that it was close to two in the morning. There was only four short hours left until sunlight would break over Konoha and I had to be gone by then. No one could know that I had been here.

Tiredness swept over me. I didn't want to sleep. I wanted to watch her with all the time I had left and memorize her perfect features. But I was exhausted. I wouldn't be able to move as I needed to if I didn't get the sleep I needed.

I slung an arm over her waist and pulled her closer to me. She murmured my name and snuggled closer into my chest. I sighed as our naked bodies molded together in a familiar way.

My eyes slowly drifted shut and I fell asleep with the only woman I had ever loved sleeping peacefully in my arms.

When I woke there was only fifteen minutes until sunrise. I slipped out of bed and pulled on my clothes that had been scattered around the room last night. When I was finished dressing I knelt beside the bed and watched her for a few moments longer. I knew I had to leave but I couldn't make myself do that yet.

I reached out and gently cupped her cheek. I rubbed my thumb along her cheek bone and leaned into kiss her one last time.

I pressed my lips softly against hers and pulled away slowly. Her green eyes fluttered open and my heart clenched at their familiar green depths.

"Are you leaving?" she asked me quietly.

I nodded. I couldn't make myself speak. If she knew how hard it was for me to leave her she would ask me to stay and I wouldn't be able to refuse.

Something in my face must have alerted her to my intentions because she said "You're not going to come back are you?"

"I can't. It's too dangerous and I can see how hard it is for you to keep us a secret. This is for the best." I told her and the cold in my voice simultaneously broke both of our hearts.

I caught a glimpse of her eyes welling up with tears before she turned her away and said "Please go." She choked out. I saw a tear plop onto the sheets and turned towards the door.

"I'm sorry." I whispered so low that I wasn't even sure she heard it but then she replied "I know."

I left then. If I stayed any longer I would break and tell her everything. How I loved her and never wanted to leave her and how the only thing I wanted now was to get back into bed with her.

With the knowledge that these unspoken words would haunt me forever I walked out of her life.

_Sakura_

I fell to my knees beside him. I hadn't seen him in five years. He was changed but still the man I had once known.

We had reunited on the battle field and I was only glad that I had been forced to stay on the sidelines so I wouldn't have to fight him.

My heart was torn between my team mates and the man I had never stopped loving. But when one of his comrades and sent a lightning jutsu my way that I didn't have a hope of dodging I had accepted that I was going to die.

Then he had jumped in front of me and taken the full force of it.

I immediately channeled my healing chakra into my hands and started doing as much as I could for him. The medic in me knew that it was hopeless though.

"Sakura, what are you doing?!" one of my team mates yelled at me.

I ignored him and continued working.

"Sak..ura…" a voice rasped. I looked into his face and it finally hit me that there was nothing I could do.

"I'm sorry." I said. The last time that those words had been said between us flashed in my head and I could tell he was remembering that moment too.

"I wish… I could have been there for you. I always… wanted to be. I'm sorry I could never be the man you needed me to be." He choked out.

I shook my head. "No. You were everything I ever needed." I told him.

He smiled and said "I love you. I never told you before… because you would've asked me to stay with you and I wouldn't have been able to refuse."

"Stay with me now." I pleaded, knowing it was useless but still asking anyway.

He shook his head "You were the best thing that ever happened to me, but I was the worst person for you. Let me go, Sakura and fall in love with someone else."

"I… can't." I whimpered.

"You can. Promise me you'll move on. I want you to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted." He begged and I could see him slipping away. Quickly and surely the only man I had ever loved was leaving me for good.

"I… I promise." I said finally.

"Thank you." He replied. He reached up and caressed my cheek before his hand fell down because he was too weak to hold it up.

"I love you." I mouthed and through my tears I saw him mouth it back and then his eyes unfocused and I felt my heart shatter into a billion tiny pieces that would never be repaired. And I knew that from then on I would be only an empty shell of what I had once been when he was alive.


End file.
